MUMBAI, June 12 -- A businessman, acquitted in a hijacking case two years ago, has been booked for allegedly defrauding a jeweller of gold, silver and diamonds valued at Rs.12.77 crore. Birju Salla, 45, was the first person to be convicted by a special NIA court in Ahmedabad under the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016, for placing a chit with a threat written on it in the toilet of an aircraft on a domestic flight. His conviction was, however, set aside by the Gujarat High Court in August 2023. After a little over a year, Salla decided to pursue his family jewellery business. So he took 5,947 grams of gold, 18,965 grams of silver and diamonds from a Zaveri Bazar-based jeweller, to sell them. There's a catch, though. Salla had not yet paid the jeweller for the gold, silver and diamonds, said an officer with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police. The EOW has registered the case based on a complaint from the jeweller, Shailesh Jain, 56, a Marine Drive resident who runs a jewellery business from Zaveri Bazaar. "The complainant knew Birju Salla and his family, as he ran his jewellery manufacturing unit from a property owned by the Salla family in Tardeo. The Salla family owned a jewellery store, which the complainant had taken on rent," said a police officer. On November 18, 2024, Salla told Jain that he had a customer who wanted antique, handmade jewellery, and that he would take the jewellery from Jain and pay based on "approval vouchers" - which meant he would pay for what sold and return the rest, said an officer with the EOW. He added that the accused chose gold ornaments, diamonds and silver utensils valued at around Rs.14 crore. "An approval voucher was signed and Jain was given some cheques, which would have to be deposited after the valuables were sold. Later, Salla returned various items of jewellery, utensils and diamonds to Jain," said the police officer. After that, Salla made a slew of excuses on the money he still owed Jain. He also urged Jain to take some of the money from his relatives, who did not respond to phone calls from Jain. "The complainant could not contact Salla and therefore called his father, who told him that his son had left home and he had no idea where he was. Salla's father also lodged a non-cognisable complaint against Jain with the Gamdevi police," said an EOW official. Jain, who was aware of Salla's notorious claim to fame, sensed he had been cheated. He knew that Salla had spent time in jail on hijacking charges and had been arrested in 2017, for placing a note with a threatening message written on it inside the lavatory of a Jet Airways Mumbai-Delhi flight. Salla was convicted under the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016, and awarded a life sentence by a special NIA court in 2019. But his conviction was set aside by the Gujarat High Court in August 2023. Now Salla had made off with Jain's jewellery. A case has been registered against Salla under sections 318 (cheating) and 316 (criminal breach of trust) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023....